Joe Dean

Joe Dean was one of the first people I met when I started working in the Berkshires. I was writing a story as part of my reporting trial for the Eagle in 2003, and someone recommended he was a good person to get to know. I met him at the McAndrews-King dealership in Adams, where he was working, and we spent awhile chatting and telling stories as he filled me in about his town. He was kind and generous with his time, and always would be through the years I wrote about Adams. He was even that way when I called him at odd hours about those less-than-pleasant parts of running the town — not uncommon in Adams politics in those days.

Sad to hear about his death on Sunday. In his decades of civic service, he served as a selectman, town moderator, county commissioner, and was part of the Adams Alert Hose Company for almost fifty years. In his proud and polite way, he was the spirit of town government at its best.